TECHNICAL
Wireless technologies are set to be used
increasingly for process supervision and control
in the manufacturing environments of the future.
Researchers at the Advanced Manufacturing
Technology Group in Waterford Institute of
Technology describe a low-cost prototype they
have developed for remote plant monitoring.
Remote plant
monitoring using
wireless technology
ireless media has been undergoing a rapid innovation
W process in search for a reliable, simple and business-
viable solution to consumer demands for fast, easy, and
inexpensive information access. Over the last five years, a number of
wireless protocols have been developed and a variety of application
vendors have begun to ship wireless products to the market.
In recent years, the demand for personal mobile communications
and ‘anytime anywhere’ access to data and communication service has
become increasingly clear. The digital cellular telephone has seen rapid
acceptance and growth in the past 20 years. Likewise, the tremendous
impact of the internet has resulted in a growing demand for a new kind
of data access.
The development of radio frequency wireless is still in its infancy.
However, in the relatively near future, very fast plant transient modules
(expert systems) will make it possible to optimise start-up and shut-
down of a unit with the help of an advanced transient analysis
provided by the centre, based on actual plant data. In the future,
wireless network technology is going to increase significantly, and new
fields of application will arise.
A significant amount of R&D is being conducted in this area, as
companies attempt to exploit the advantages of wireless systems. It is
envisaged that such wireless technology will be very suited to
deployment in fully flexible manufacturing environments, typically
where plant and process equipment will be physically moved
throughout a factory for different manufacturing tasks. It also is very
suited to materials handling and transfer monitoring – for example in
the tracking and control of AGV’s through a factory.
46
In a centralised remote monitoring facility, specialists can be employed to
provide support to a far greater number of plants simultaneously.
Prototype system
At the School of Engineering at Waterford Institute of Technology, we have
developed a prototype wireless communication prototype offering significantly
lower cost implementation overheads compared with existing technologies.
The essential elements of the system are the use of a SCADA system for
monitoring and controlling, the use of a PLC to control a remote plant and
the implementation of wireless communication between the two. For the
purposes of this project, LabVIEW software and digital I/O hardware were
chosen. More generally, in an industrial setting, any SCADA system with
simple digital I/O would be sufficient to implement the wireless
communications described
Choices had to be made concerning each of the three primary elements
to select the most suitable programs, methods and hardware for an
effective system:
■ SCADA system requirements
■ Monitoring of individual system components and display on a GUI
(graphic user interface) to determine system status
■ Control of remote plant from host monitoring station.
■ Capability for system status signals from the remote device to be received
at the monitoring and controlling station
External monitoring of remote plant over a network
PLC requirements
■ Capability to control the operation of the remote device and relay the
system status to a transmitter
■ Transmission of system status output at pre-determined intervals, unless
requested from the monitoring and controlling station
IRISH ENGINEERS JOURNAL vol. 57 : 10 December 2003
 TECHNICAL

Industrial applications for wireless technology

Communication requirements
Industry Existing and future applications
■ Transceiving of reliable status signals over short distances.
for wireless technology
■ Relaying of control signals when requested by the user. in manufacture
■ Low cost
Petrochemicals Plants ■ Pipeline monitoring system
■ Controller for pumping station
Communicating wirelessly ■ Intelligent controller for LPG bottling
The first step in achieving wireless communication was to establish ■ Terminal automation system
communication from the SCADA system (LabVIEW) on the PC to
a simple remote controlled receiver device. A control switch on the Power Generation Units ■ Supervisory system for
captive power plants
LabVIEW front panel activated a terminal on the receiving device by
■ Control system for switchyard control,
remote control. The terminals for the four operating channels on the substation and distribution
remote controlled device were then each connected to an opto- automation
isolator and in turn to individual input terminals on the PLC. ■ Custom solutions, protocol converters
The next step was to establish communication in the form of an and data concentrators
■ Energy management systems
output from the PLC and display this on the LabVIEW front panel.
■ Data analysis software for
A PLC program was written to give a specified output from the PLC Sequential event recorders
when a specified input was activated. ■ Automated meter reading systems
The third step was to attempt to transmit and receive signals
simultaneously. Due to interference, it was not possible to operate Iron and Steel plants ■ Control system for sintering
section, soaking section,
transmitters and receivers with the same operating frequency in close electric arc furnace,
proximity. Therefore, both 27MHz and 40MHz transmitters and ■ Ladle furnace and continuous
receivers were used. casting machine
A simple system, involving liquid level control in a tank, was ■ Subsystem interface development
for spectrometers, weighing
chosen as the application for the remote plant.
system and Special
purpose controllers
Low-level serial protocol
Due to the fact that the transmitters and receivers used were limited Pulp and Paper ■ Energy monitoring system
to four operating channels, serial communication was implemented using pulse transducers
■ Implementation of automated energy
from the PLC to the SCADA system. This operated over a single
audit for various plant sections
channel, which incorporated RTS signals and parity. A simple timing ■ Supervisory control and monitoring
sequence was set up in a PLC program. station for digestion station,
A VI (virtual instrument) was developed to read this sequence. for the production of chemical pulp,
It was programmed to recognise the initial 1.5-second RTS (ready batch process for pulp bleaching,
preparing dyes etc.
to send) pulse as the start of the transmission and then store
the subsequent data sequence as a binary number. An eight-bit HVAC
sequence allowed 256 different digital numbers to be transmitted ■ Particulate measurement/monitoring
by the system. A serial communication protocol was systems
developed specifically for the system. This protocol was implemented ■ Control of electrostatic precipitators
using automatic voltage controllers
to transmit a wireless signal, which corresponded to the status ■ Data acquisition and monitoring
of the remote device. Using a SCADA system, this signal systems - remote diagnostics
could be interpreted allowing real-time monitoring of any ■ SO3/water injection
remote device. control systems
Each variable at the remote device (i.e. the liquid-level controlled
tank) was allocated a data bit in this sequence. A 1.5 second RTS

Systems Components

Monitoring and Controlling Remote Device

Station
Tx Wireless Communications Rx
SCADA PLC
System Controller
Tx Tx

IRISH ENGINEERS JOURNAL vol. 57 : 10 December 2003 47

TECHNICAL
WIT researchers (left to right) Eoin Croke, Bryan Raleigh, and Dermot Donohoe.
(ready to send) pulse followed by a 0.5 second delay preceded the
data. The data sequence of eight 1-second bits corresponded to the
status of the remote device. The status signal also contained a parity
bit, which was included to improve data reliability.
The parity bit (data bit No. 7) should always read a logic “0’
or low. This serial sequence was transmitted wirelessly to the
monitoring and controlling station and was sent via a DAQ
(Data Acquisition) device to the SCADA system. This worked quite
satisfactorily with 1-second/bit pulses. At a total length of
ten seconds, the sequence was relatively long, due to the poor
timing resolution of the DAQ hardware when scanning pulses and
Benefits of wireless technology in manufacturing
Clearly wireless technology does not replace wired communication.
However, there are places where it can provide services otherwise not
possible. In many manufacturing concerns, process monitoring utilises
significant employee resources. Due to increasing cost pressures,
however, it is becoming more and more difficult to justify specialised
activities such as the operation of a diagnostics station or the exclusive
use of specialists at a single plant.
In contrast, in a centralised remote monitoring facility, specialists can
be employed to provide support to a far greater number of plants
simultaneously. In such a setting, the majority of the monitoring
personnel would be experienced commissioning engineers used to
handling non-routine situations. In addition, they could provide support
that draws on the manufacturer’s entire expertise in process engineering,
component design and service. If the remote device is shut down
immediately, damage is limited; whereas, if the device can continue in
operation up until the next scheduled outage, the operator benefits from
48
Further reading
Thomas M. Lillesand, Ralph W. Kiefer: Remote Sensing And Image
Interpretation - Wiley, Ney York 3rd ed. (1995)
http://www.globalaccessmc.com/
Smith, Clint: Cellular Systems Design And Optimisation (1996)
Brodsky, Ira: Wireless Computing:
A Manager’s Guide To Wireless Networking. (1997)
http://www.wipro.com/prodesign/focusareas/iautomation/solutions.htm
its continued availability, reduced maintenance costs and extended
service life. An additional advantage for the customer, gained through
remote diagnostics, is the manufacturer’s access to a very detailed plant
operating history. Experienced commissioning engineers can thus analyse
whether inspection or maintenance intervals can be extended due to
careful operation.
Automated plant diagnostic systems have introduced a real-time
monitoring option, allowing customers to remotely monitor their plants
over the internet. Using any standard internet web browser, customers
can monitor real-time plant performance conditions from anywhere in
the world. This new remote monitoring technology lets plant engineers
check the conditions of the plant facilities from the convenience of their
office, hotel, or home. If a problem occurs, users can view the real-time
conditions of the affected plant area, diagnose the problem remotely, and
advise the on-site plant engineers how to fix it, thereby minimising costly
plant failures and breakdowns.
IRISH ENGINEERS JOURNAL vol. 57 : 10 December 2003
 TECHNICAL

Systems components: The primary

REMOTE PLANT Opto- elements of the system are the
WIT PC DAQ
MANUAL Isolater remote plant, the monitoring &
HIGH 10
TANK
on
OVERRIDE

off
Device Modules
9

8
SCANNING
REPEAT
STATUS Ccontrolling station and the
communication between the two
7
SYSTEM STATUS
6

MED 5
TANK EMPTYING
4
units. A SCADA system was
3
40 Mhz 27 Mhz
2
integrated to perform the duties of
LOW 1
TANK EMPTY
VALVE PUMP
Receiver Transmitter
the monitoring & controlling
0
STOP

station.
LABVIEW FRONT PANEL

REMOTE DEVICE

TANK
HIGH
Manual
Overide
MED 40 Mhz 27 Mhz
Transmitter Receiver
LOW
PLC
PUMP
Opto-
Isolater
Modules

Figure 3: System Hardware

its reduced accuracy at high speeds. The timing limitation meant
that the SCADA software took 20 seconds to update the
device status. Attempts were made to reduce the pulse duration
with a view to reducing the overall scan time. However, these
attempts proved unsuccessfully as the data returned
were inconsistent.
The transmitters and receivers used were very basic (from toy
remote control cars) and although, very low cost, they performed
more than adequately. The system components offered reliable data
transmission within a range of about fifteen to twenty metres. The
use of more advanced transmitters and receivers would allow a greater
communication range and may facilitate improved data accuracy.
The use of a simple serial signal to transmit the system status allowed
the number of system components being monitored to be extended
indefinitely. Expansion in this way would involve the allocation of
bits at the end of the serial sequence to the additional system
variables.
The SCADA system was programmed to constantly scan for status
signals and only allow control signals to be transmitted if a status
signal was not being received. In other words, it was not possible to
simultaneously transmit a control signal and receive a status signal.
The GUI front panel of the SCADA system was developed using a
number of indicators and controls, which were the interactive input
and output terminals. Controls simulated instruments input devices
and supplied data to the application. Indicators simulated instrument
output devices and displayed the data that the SCADA system
acquired or generated. The relevant indicators on the front panel
were updated to display a representation of the remote device in its
current status. The SCADA system allowed a wireless control signal
to be transmitted to the PLC at the remote device. This signal could
be used to rectify faults, override device settings, request a system
status signal and activate or de-activate systems.
Applications
Our research has show that simple wireless communications can be
implemented between existing manufacturing control equipment in
a low-cost manner. Although data transmission rates and range were
limited by some of the components used, the system was very robust.
It is envisaged that such communications techniques and associated
simple protocols will be deployed extensively in the manufacturing
environment of the future.
The technology would appear to be particularly apt for certain
applications, since use of standard components such as the PLC and
the SCADA software allow it to be integrated with relative ease into
manufacturing equipment in power stations, generators, chemical
treatment, AGVs, and materials processing equipment.
In particular, further work is to be carried out in the monitoring
and control of AGVs. As each vehicle is equipped with a PLC,
this would allow the incorporation of simple wireless
communications to and from each AGV and, hence, the monitoring
of material movement throughout a factory. One central SCADA
monitoring station would be able to address each AGV in pooling
all AGVs with an ID code, and only the relevant vehicle
would respond ■
This article is based on a paper presented by Eoin Croke, Dermot Donohoe
and Bryan Raleigh, at School of Engineering Technology, Waterford
Institute of Technology during IMC 20, the 20th International
Manufacturing Conference “Knowledge Driven Manufacturing’ run this
September by Cork Institute of Technology in association with University
College Cork. Eoin Croke and Dermot Donohoe are both 2003 honours
graduates from WIT’s degree in Computer Aided Manufacturing. Bryan
Raleigh is a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at WIT, with research
interests in automation, AMT and robotics.

IRISH ENGINEERS JOURNAL vol. 57 : 10 December 2003 49